Several Factors Contributed to Rise of Charitable Giving in 2018

Charitable giving continues to show increased growth year after year, with research to back it up. Blackbaud’s “Charitable Giving Report: How Fundraising Performed in 2018” reported that overall giving in the U.S. increased 1.5 percent on a year-over-year basis.

Overall giving grew 2.3 percent for large organizations, grew 2 percent for medium organizations and declined 2.3. percent for small organizations; but giving to foundations and donor-advised funds continues to grow.

According to the report, online giving has grown 17 percent since 2016. Another thing to note is that, in 2018, 24 percent of online donations were made on a mobile device. During #GivingTuesday, Blackbaud processed $62.6 million in the U.S., an increase of 512 percent since 2012.

And while it’s easier to identify one singular source for the spike, the report says, “That is not how the philanthropic ecosystem works.”

There were many factors influencing the growth in charitable giving:

1. Charitable giving in the U.S. is returning to normal levels following two years of significant growth.
2. Online giving is entering a new phase where mobile and other digital channels continue to change how donors engage with nonprofits.
3. Giving to foundations and donor-advised funds continues to grow in response to supporter preferences and changes in incentives.

“The overarching theme is that the reports of the demise of giving didn’t happen in 2018. We saw a growth in giving, and one of the things we did was look at the three-year trend,” Steve MacLaughlin, VP of Data & Analytics at Blackbaud, said in an interview with NonProfit PRO. “We looked at 2016, 2017 and 2018, and we found that overall giving was up 9 percent and online giving was up 17 percent. Those are pretty positive trends, considering we had a lot of volatility, a lot of things happen over the past three years.”

To download the full study, click here.